Nearly 100 supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis gathered outside Versailles in Little Havana Thursday as the former congressman made a last-minute stop just a few days before Election Day.

Milly Gonzalez grew up in West Miami after escaping from Cuba with her family at only 5-years-old. She said she's voting for DeSantis because she's afraid socialism is taking over the country.

“Coming from a socialist communist country, that we escaped, I don’t want that for this country,” she said, adding that her "main issue is abortion."

Republican Enrique Tarrio, who grew up in Little Havana, chanted "CNN Sucks" and "Cubanos Con DeSantis" at the event.

In the heart of Little Havana, Versailles has long been political hotspot.

“Versailles brings out the best people in Miami, and it’s central -- the Trump Administration, the Marco Rubio campaign, everyone comes here,” Tarrio said.

Little Havana has been a reliable Republican stronghold since the 1980s. But an aging Cuban-American electorate and shifting demographics has steadily turned it more blue. Earlier this year, Democrat Eileen Higgins was elected to the Miami-Dade County Commission, representing the neighborhood.

Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum on November 2 at the Ice Palace Film Studios in Miami.

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Fidel Castro is dead and brother Raúl is no longer president of Cuba. But communism can still move the needle in Miami campaigns.

Decades after the Cuban revolution spawned an exodus that reshaped South Florida culture and U.S. politics in the Caribbean, political exiles are declining in number in Miami and leftist angst is fading. But it's far from gone. And under the right conditions and in the right neighborhoods, evoking the tyranny of dictators can still be an effective tactic in manipulating votes and undercutting opponents.